Imagine a crop that can be harvested daily on the most barren desert and arid land, with no fertilizer or tillage, and that produces no harmful emissions. Imagine an energy source so bountiful that it can provide many times more energy than we could ever expect to need or use. Imagine that an hour's worth of sunlight bathing the planet holds far more energy than humans worldwide could consume in a year. You don't have to imagine it - it's real and it's here. Solar energy is an abundant enormous resource that is readily available to all countries throughout the world, and all the space above the earth. It is clean, no waste comes from it, and it's "free."
This "free" source of electricity can be used to supply the energy needs of homes, farms and businesses. Through the use of Photovoltaic (PV), Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) or Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), sunlight is converted into electricity that can provide power to businesses, homes, and drive motors. Solar power is becoming recognized as an important element in the energy supply planning and customer energy management of utilities worldwide.
I firmly believe that, to meet all its energy needs, India should diversify its energy mix by accelerating the use of all forms of Renewable Energy technologies (including PV, thermal solar, wind power, biomass, bio-gas, and hydro), and more proactively promote energy efficiency. However, in this article, I will only focus on the solar farming potential in India.
What is a Solar Farming?
On a solar farm, large amounts of power are generated from sunlight. Since solar energy is collected from a wide area, it is important to view the process as "farming" to "harvest" renewable energy from the sun. Solar farming is an opportunity for those in the agricultural sector to view solar energy as a "replacement harvest" and create cleaner forms of energy by transforming vacant or even underused land into farms that produce electrical energy. Solar farming lets individuals with non-income producing or otherwise useless acreage to generate a really great rate of return on investment. Imagine making 12% to 15% or more assured return on investment for 30 years without any up-front money. If you have a farm or ranch, even if smaller than an acre, in a location that gets direct sunlight consistently throughout the day and year round, you might consider installing a solar energy system as an alternative source of power. Having a solar energy system would allow you to produce your own electricity. Additionally you could sell some of your electricity to your neighbors, local businesses, or even the local utility company. This is a brand new approach to the solar energy business.
Solar energy farms, especially larger ones, can be interconnected into the electricity grid and produce significant levels of electricity offsetting traditional sources of generation. Moreover, large-scale solar-power generation has the potential to help meet India's enormous energy needs.
Solar energy provides a new kind of experience to farmers in growing their crops. New commercial solar technologies enable farmers to capture solar energy to produce electricity, heat and hot water to enrich their farms, businesses or homes. Solar power provides economic development and energy independence to farmers. Read the full report here.
Source: Darshan Goswami, Project Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Pulse.Â
